Afghan batter recreates infamous hamstring injury used against Australia

In short:

Sediqullah Atal's maiden Test century led Afghanistan to an epic draw against Bangladesh in a one-off cricket Test, but it was the actions of Qais Ahmad that drew attention.

Ahmad collapsed on the ground in apparent pain after playing a defensive shot, much to the frustration of the opposition, who believed it was time-wasting.

Fellow Afghan Gulbadin Naib suffered a similarly suspicious cramp during his nation's historic T20 World Cup win over Australia in 2024.

Sediqullah Atal's maiden Test century has led Afghanistan to an epic draw against Bangladesh in a one-off cricket Test. 

Afghanistan batted for 142 overs, 92 on the fifth and final day, in its second innings to force a sensational draw on Tuesday. It began the day on a dodgy 132-3, lost five more wickets, but fought on to hold out to stumps at 346-8.

But it was the actions of number nine Qais Ahmad in the dying minutes that drew the most attention in the match's final act.

With the finish line in sight and just two wickets left, Ahmad played a forward defence to spinner Taijul Islam before collapsing to the ground clutching his hamstring.

The Bangladesh team was not impressed, and had commentator Ahmad Farhad Fidai in stitches as he likened it to the actions of Afghanistan's Gulbadin Naib, who suffered a suspicious cramp fielding at slip in their famous 2024 T20 World Cup win over Australia.

"Qais Ahmad does it again. This reminds me of Gulbadin Naib," an amused Fidai said, clearly believing Ahmad's fall to the turf was nothing more than time-wasting antics.

"Oh boy, not again.

"You really don't need to see the replay; we can understand from here what's going on."

Ahmad soldiered on and finished the match with a six over midwicket.

Bangladesh dominated the match after winning the toss and batting first. Bangladesh earned a first-innings lead of 106 runs, then declared its second innings at 7-372 after player-of-the-match Litton Das was out for 102. That gave Bangladesh an imposing lead of 478 and four and a half sessions to bowl out Afghanistan.

But Afghanistan defied the odds despite losing two wickets in the first seven overs on Monday.

First drop Atal, in his third Test, ate up most of the chase as he faced 332 balls over 8.5 hours to score 111. He was caught close to the wicket after tea, the seventh man out.

Afghanistan still had 23 overs with just tailenders left. But 34-year-old Yamin Ahmadzai faced 85 balls for a career-best 19, and Ahmad, who has played franchise cricket in eight countries, faced 80 to finish with an unbeaten career-best 49.